Readings January 31, 2007
Posted by damienpfister in Readings.1 comment so far
Greetings,
I have assembled all of the readings in a zip file here. You should be able to download them easily and open them. You’ll need a zip file opener (Pitt has one you can download at the software.pitt.edu site–Stuffit).
I hope this is easy for folks; if it isn’t, I can get them to you some other way. I tested this to make sure that it works, and it did, so you should have no problems.
UPDATE: If you have trouble with the zip file, you can access the Schudson article here, and the Dahlberg article here.
Discussion Group #1 Readings January 29, 2007
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Take a gander at the readings for the first group, which is focusing on issues surrounding birth control:
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/50states.htm
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/state_data/states/pennsylvania.html
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/02/28/IB2006n1.pdf
http://www.christiancontraception.com/
http://www.birthcontroloptions.info/Results.aspx?query=Birth%20Control%20Options&sessionid=vcb3afjf3z3grqjrckkho345&cc=us&ns=1&eas=LPCHxzH7W772a4KqYOvVyg..
http://www.epigee.org/guide/hormonal.html
http://imr.bsd.uchicago.edu/chiefs/History%20of%20Medicine/Birth%20Control_files/frame.htm
Read as much as you can!
Standing Art Questions January 26, 2007
Posted by damienpfister in Extra.2 comments
Well, I really enjoyed discussion our trip to the museum. I thought we had an insightful, interesting conversation over the past few days. It’s too bad that we didn’t get more time to talk about the third floor; Luke was really itching to discuss the blue plank. Here are some of the other interesting questions that were raised…
*In the Scaife Gallery, there was an untitled piece by Uta Barth, which consisted of three photos, one of the flowers bloomed and two of the wilted flowers in a vase…why were the perspectives changed in all three, especially the last two considering they are from the same time?
*”Screen,” by Fernando and Humberto Coimpana: How would this sculpture relate to an individual in a city?
*What is art? Can something like “Night Sky #12″ by Vija Celmins or “You Can’t Lay Down Your Memories” by Tejo Remy be art?
Remember, visits to the Carnegie are free. Bring a friend!
Self Evaluations January 26, 2007
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Ok, so we’ve had two days of self-evaluations. Here’s what I’ve learned:
*This is harder then I thought, both for me and for you.
*My assessments of ya’ll’s performance is about the same as your own self-assessment; I would say I come in a point below about 20% of the time, and agree with your own assessment the rest of the time. There are a few people that are consistently hard on themselves, and I bump their grades up (so if you give yourself a 1, I give you a 3, cuz you shouldn’t be that hard on yourself.) FYI. I like brutal honesty, but don’t be too brutal.
*The open comment thing: you can add some general comments about your own performance, how you think the class discussion overall was, or some ways to improve the overall class. I might eventually pull some of those comments and anonymously post them on the blog–it might be a good feedback mechanism to give others more of a feel for how zeitgeist of our little discussion pod.
*I’m open to revisions of the comment sheet. I’ll take out the numeric quantifications (1-2 contributions vs. 3-4 contributions) as was suggested, but I would be interested in more feedback. Here’s the Word doc of the self-eval form. You can make suggestions in comments, here, or via email.
Bliss & Heaven, Jesper Just, 2004 January 25, 2007
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I don’t know that we will be able to talk about this in class tomorrow; we have a lot to cover in a small amount of time. But I have been thinking about this short film that many of us saw at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Jesper Just’s Bliss and Heaven (not the whole movie, but stills from the film that are pretty evocative) is a film that gives “the audience needs no easy solutions or predigested messages; hints suffice. And indeed the ambiguity, the unfinished and the pent-up characterise all of Jesper Just’s works.“
While some have intepreted this work as a meditation on sexuality, desire, and secrecy, I was fairly provoked by the description on the placard describing the work. This placard, in addition to identifying the name of the artist and the work, suggested that the film explores the relationship between the performer and the audience. Of course, the little blurb didn’t go into much detail, leaving it to the audience of this particular work to extend those reflections. This is my attempt to do so.
Words in the SOTU January 24, 2007
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This is a wild NYT interactive feature that allows you to track how many times a certain word was used in the State of the Union.
What is the What January 24, 2007
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Time to buy What is the What.
But first, reviews. You can find a collection of them here; but these are the best blurbs and should make you excited.
From the New York Times:
I suppose some merciless pruning could have reduced “What Is the What” by a few ounces, but by the time you reach its stunning and beautiful conclusion, you can’t help feeling that the resonant power of its last lines derives at least in part from the cumulative weight of every word that has gone before.
How’s that as a pre-emptive strike against the length of the book? Reading is fun.
From the best newspaper in the world, USA Today:
Hands down, Dave Eggers’ What Is the What stands as the single most thought-provoking, unusual and moving book I have read all year. It deserves a wide audience for two reasons. First, it is beautifully written and explores all the deepest aspects of human life: grief, the existence of God, alienation, good and evil, love, friendship. The second reason people should read What Is the What involves a world bigger than book publishing. Eggers puts a human face on what is happening in Africa today, specifically in Sudan and the conflict between the Muslim North and the Christian South. (What is not specifically about Darfur, but it helps the reader understand the roots of that conflict.)
And most importantly, from K.L. Cutugno of San Francisco, an Amazon.com reviewer:
Praise has already been heaped on this book, and I just need to add my two cents and say that it should be read by everyone who can get their hands on a copy. That is not overstating the fact.
So there! Where to buy it? Amazon has copies for about $16. Powell’s has it for the cover price of $26. Of course eBay has a copy or two. I have also seen this at Borders (Sliberty/Shadyside) and Barnes and Noble (in Squirrel Hill).
Contact me if you’re having trouble finding it.
Readings for Thursday. January 23, 2007
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Like I said, I’ll try to put all the readings together in a zip file this weekend. But these two readings should keep you warm in the mean time (perhaps because you’ll feel like burning them after you read them, but…)
Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion, J.S. Mill (website). While you might find this bitter, it is good medicine. Focus specifically on paragraphs 1-22, 34-36, 40-44. This about halves the reading.
A Nation That Sometimes Likes to Talk, William Keith and John Gastil (pdf)
Remember, if you can’t access the readings, please email me sooner rather than later.
Leading Discussion Groups January 23, 2007
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Group 1:
Meghan, Andrew, Julia
Group 2:
Rachel, Dana, Mike
Group 3:
Jack, Alyse, Scott
Group 4:
Lynn, Bill, Luke
Group 5:
Zaneta, Kate, Joanna
Group 6:
Sarah, Jen, Nathaniel
Group 7:
Kris, Krystal, Charlotte
Group 8:
Kara, Nina
Syllabus January 20, 2007
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So, I finally have a draft of the syllabus done. We’ll talk about it briefly in class on Tuesday, though I would like to focus on the discussion of our field trip to the art museum. Feel free to check it out here and leave some comments in the comments section–that might flag me on some key points that need clarification.
Oh, and hold off on buying What is the What, the Dave Eggers book that we decided to read. If you’ve already bought it, that’s ok. But if you haven’t bought it yet, hold off just a little longer.
Make sure you scroll down and read the piece on Artistic Citizenship!
